ROSEMARY'S SECRET

Plotting here is an old refrain -- but the narration is beguiling. Rosemary West envied other children who had grandfathers. While she was on a visit to Aunt Madge in nearby Laval, a mysterious stranger occupying a nearby house turns out to be great-great uncle Amos Carvel, regarded by most of the family as an eccentric. But Rosemary befriends him, convinced that his talk of a deed to the house and family treasure concealed somewhere is to be believed. Predictably, Rosemary and great-great uncle Amos find the sliding panel and the treasure and Rosemary gains a locum-grandfather and a new bicycle. The transparent plot can be forgiven because action flows rapidly and the narration redeems a threadbare fabric.